Is there such a thing as a USB radio?

I'm jumping through a lot hoops here to record music off of FM radio.

* I've got my radio connected to my DVD recorder to record several
hours of music. Then I have to take the DVD-RW to my computer and I'm
using dreamlinux to create/edit MP3s of the individual songs. Finally,
I jump into windows to create MP3s.

* And then I have another DVD recorder (that I just bought at big lots
for $30) getting stuff off the satellite radio stations. Repeat
procedure as above.

* I also have a sandisk sansa express which records into wave files
for 2 hours at a clip. Then I have to retrieve the wave files from
linux due to a lack of drivers for windows.

I can't help but think that a simple FM radio on USB would make this a
lot easier. I could record entire days on a given station instead of
these 2 hour intervals. You'd be surpised how many commercials there
are in 2 hours, about 45 minutes worth

dos-man wrote:
I'm jumping through a lot hoops here to record music off of FM radio.

* I've got my radio connected to my DVD recorder to record several
hours of music. Then I have to take the DVD-RW to my computer and I'm
using dreamlinux to create/edit MP3s of the individual songs. Finally,
I jump into windows to create MP3s.

* And then I have another DVD recorder (that I just bought at big lots
for $30) getting stuff off the satellite radio stations. Repeat
procedure as above.

* I also have a sandisk sansa express which records into wave files
for 2 hours at a clip. Then I have to retrieve the wave files from
linux due to a lack of drivers for windows.

I can't help but think that a simple FM radio on USB would make this a
lot easier. I could record entire days on a given station instead of
these 2 hour intervals. You'd be surpised how many commercials there
are in 2 hours, about 45 minutes worth

What is wrong with plugging an FM radio, into the line input
of your sound card ? Your PC can store a lot of sound, as long
as you have a program that writes out the recorded sound directly
to disk. (Some sound editor programs, record to RAM, which
can be a limitation. Recording directly to the hard drive,
would make your 24 hour target easier to do.)

Paul

On Oct 24, 7:17*pm, Paul wrote:
dos-man wrote:
I'm jumping through a lot hoops here to record music off of FM radio.

* I've got my radio connected to my DVD recorder to record several
hours of music. *Then I have to take the DVD-RW to my computer and I'm
using dreamlinux to create/edit MP3s of the individual songs. Finally,
I jump into windows to create MP3s.

* And then I have another DVD recorder (that I just bought at big lots
for $30) getting stuff off the satellite radio stations. Repeat
procedure as above.

* *I also have a sandisk sansa express which records into wave files
for 2 hours at a clip. Then I have to retrieve the wave files from
linux due to a lack of drivers for windows.

I can't help but think that a simple FM radio on USB would make this a
lot easier. *I could record entire days on a given station instead of
these 2 hour intervals. *You'd be surpised how many commercials there
are in 2 hours, about 45 minutes worth

What is wrong with plugging an FM radio, into the line input
of your sound card ? Your PC can store a lot of sound, as long
as you have a program that writes out the recorded sound directly
to disk. (Some sound editor programs, record to RAM, which
can be a limitation. Recording directly to the hard drive,
would make your 24 hour target easier to do.)

* * Paul

Hi, Paul. What I've noticed in the past is that hooking up to the
soundcard creates a lot static and "white noise". PCs aren't quiet
like DVD recorders. They hum, they vibrate, they make quite a bit of
noise. I've never been happy with the sound quality I got from doing
that.

Actually, I used to have a wintv PCI card which had a radio tuner on
it. Seemed buggy and quirky so I got rid of it. Wish I still had it

"dos-man" wrote in message
...
I'm jumping through a lot hoops here to record music off of FM radio.

* I've got my radio connected to my DVD recorder to record several
hours of music. Then I have to take the DVD-RW to my computer and I'm
using dreamlinux to create/edit MP3s of the individual songs. Finally,
I jump into windows to create MP3s.

* And then I have another DVD recorder (that I just bought at big lots
for $30) getting stuff off the satellite radio stations. Repeat
procedure as above.

* I also have a sandisk sansa express which records into wave files
for 2 hours at a clip. Then I have to retrieve the wave files from
linux due to a lack of drivers for windows.

I can't help but think that a simple FM radio on USB would make this a
lot easier. I could record entire days on a given station instead of
these 2 hour intervals. You'd be surpised how many commercials there
are in 2 hours, about 45 minutes worth

if you can use Google you might be surprised

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vega-Portabl...48384&sr =1-1



"dos-man" wrote in message
...
I'm jumping through a lot hoops here to record music off of FM radio.

* I've got my radio connected to my DVD recorder to record several
hours of music. Then I have to take the DVD-RW to my computer and I'm
using dreamlinux to create/edit MP3s of the individual songs. Finally,
I jump into windows to create MP3s.

* And then I have another DVD recorder (that I just bought at big lots
for $30) getting stuff off the satellite radio stations. Repeat
procedure as above.

* I also have a sandisk sansa express which records into wave files
for 2 hours at a clip. Then I have to retrieve the wave files from
linux due to a lack of drivers for windows.

I can't help but think that a simple FM radio on USB would make this a
lot easier. I could record entire days on a given station instead of
these 2 hour intervals. You'd be surpised how many commercials there
are in 2 hours, about 45 minutes worth

On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:38:04 -0700 (PDT), dos-man
wrote:


Hi, Paul. What I've noticed in the past is that hooking up to the
soundcard creates a lot static and "white noise". PCs aren't quiet
like DVD recorders. They hum, they vibrate, they make quite a bit of
noise. I've never been happy with the sound quality I got from doing
that.

Actually, I used to have a wintv PCI card which had a radio tuner on
it. Seemed buggy and quirky so I got rid of it. Wish I still had it


Were you connecting to a decent quality sound card, or a
low-end or integrated audio? The former tend to be quieter.

Another option is a USB sound *card*, one with a line in,
input. They tend to be quieter by virtue of the impedance
across the USB cable, though I suppose some of those are
better than others too.

As you mentioned a PCI tuner card is another option, and
fairly inexpensive.

It's easier to find combo TV/FM USB tuners than only FM USB
tuners, though another place to look is ebay.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=1484%3A10234

There's the Radio Shark 2
(http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/radioshark2) that I have.
The recording function works very well, but I would rate the quality
of the radio as average to poor.

Another one that I don't have personal experience with is Radio
Extreme (http://www.radio-xtreme.com/RadioXtreme.htm).

On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:49:04 -0700 (PDT), dos-man
wrote:

I'm jumping through a lot hoops here to record music off of FM radio.

* I've got my radio connected to my DVD recorder to record several
hours of music. Then I have to take the DVD-RW to my computer and I'm
using dreamlinux to create/edit MP3s of the individual songs. Finally,
I jump into windows to create MP3s.

* And then I have another DVD recorder (that I just bought at big lots
for $30) getting stuff off the satellite radio stations. Repeat
procedure as above.

* I also have a sandisk sansa express which records into wave files
for 2 hours at a clip. Then I have to retrieve the wave files from
linux due to a lack of drivers for windows.

I can't help but think that a simple FM radio on USB would make this a
lot easier. I could record entire days on a given station instead of
these 2 hour intervals. You'd be surpised how many commercials there
are in 2 hours, about 45 minutes worth

On Oct 25, 9:54*pm, Andy wrote:
There's the Radio Shark 2
(http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/radioshark2) that I have.
The recording function works very well, but I would rate the quality
of the radio as average to poor.

Another one that I don't have personal experience with is Radio
Extreme (http://www.radio-xtreme.com/RadioXtreme.htm).



Thank you for the suggestions. I need to do a little research and see
which one fits best and which one can possibly work in linux. The
second one has linux drivers, but that doesn't guarantee I can
configure it

On Oct 25, 2:42*am, kony wrote:
On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:38:04 -0700 (PDT), dos-man

wrote:
Hi, Paul. *What I've noticed in the past is that hooking up to the
soundcard creates a lot static and "white noise". *PCs aren't quiet
like DVD recorders. *They hum, they vibrate, they make quite a bit of
noise. *I've never been happy with the sound quality I got from doing
that.

Actually, I used to have a wintv PCI card which had a radio tuner on
it. Seemed buggy and quirky so I got rid of it. *Wish I still had it

Were you connecting to a decent quality sound card, or a
low-end or integrated audio? *The former tend to be quieter.


I really can't recall. I mean I've had a small army of PCs over the
past few years and at one point I even had an ISA sound blaster. I
just remember a lot of air in a seashell type background noise.




Another option is a USB sound *card*, one with a line in,
input. *They tend to be quieter by virtue of the impedance
across the USB cable, though I suppose some of those are
better than others too.


I haven't heard of those before. I will have to look around.



As you mentioned a PCI tuner card is another option, and
fairly inexpensive.



My old wintv card was hard to work with, as well as being costly.
Wasn't so much a problem with the hardware, but the software to
control the device was buggy. Well, that was a long time ago when I
had that. Possibly 2002 or earlier.

On Oct 25, 12:27*am, "Jef Roe" wrote:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vega-Portabl...o/dp/B001HRA8R...

"dos-man" wrote in message

...



Don't think this will be of any help. It appears a device for
internet radio stations (a realm I've never ventured into.) I'm
dealing with more traditional radio listening. Actually, I'm not even
sure why this device would even be necessary?